Derivation of forward and adjoint operators for least-squares shot-profile split-step migration

Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. S225-S235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam T. Kaplan ◽  
Partha S. Routh ◽  
Mauricio D. Sacchi

The forward and adjoint operators for shot-profile least-squares migration are derived. The forward operator is demigration, and the adjoint operator is migration. The demigration operator is derived from the Born approximation. The process begins with a Green’s function that allows for a laterally varying migration velocity model using the split-step approximation. Next, the earth is divided into horizontal layers, and within each layer the migration velocity model is made to be constant with respect to depth. For a given layer, (1) the source-side wavefield is propagated down to its top using the background wavefield. This gives a background wavefield incident at the layer’s upper boundary. (2) The layer’s contribution to the scattered wavefield is computed using the Born approximation to the scattered wavefield and the background wavefield. (3) Next, its scattered wavefield is propagated back up to the measurement surface using, again, the background wavefield. The measured wavefield is approximated by the sum of scattered wavefields from each layer. In the derivation of the measured wavefield, the shot-profile migration geometry is used. For each shot, the resulting wavefield modeling operator takes the form of a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind, and this is used to write down its adjoint, the shot-profile migration operator. This forward/adjoint pair is used for shot-profile least-squares migration. Shot-profile least-squares migration is illustrated with two synthetic examples. The first uses data collected over a four-layer acoustic model, and the second uses data from the Sigsbee 2a model.

Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. WB121-WB136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam T. Kaplan ◽  
Mostafa Naghizadeh ◽  
Mauricio D. Sacchi

We introduce shot-profile migration data reconstruction (SPDR). SPDR constructs a least-squares migrated shot gather using shot-profile migration and demigration operators. Both operators are constructed with a constant migration velocity model for efficiency and so that SPDR requires minimal information about the underlying geology. Applying the demigration operator to the least-squares migrated shot gather gives the reconstructed data gather. SPDR can reconstruct a shot gather from observed data that are spatially aliased. Given a constraint on the geological dips in an approximate model of the earth’s reflector, signal and aliased energy that interfere in the common shot data gather are disjoint in the migrated shot gather. In the least-squares migration algorithm, we construct weights to take advantage of this separation, suppressing the aliased energy while retaining the signal, and allowing SPDR to reconstruct a shot gather from aliased data. SPDR is illustrated with synthetic data examples and one real data example.


Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. H27-H33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ji

To reduce the migration artifacts arising from incomplete data or inaccurate operators instead of migrating data with the adjoint of the forward-modeling operator, a least-squares migration often is considered. Least-squares migration requires a forward-modeling operator and its adjoint. In a derivation of the mathematically correct adjoint operator to a given forward-time-extrapolation modeling operator, the exact adjoint of the derived operator is obtained by formulating an explicit matrix equation for the forward operation and transposing it. The programs that implement the exact adjoint operator pair are verified by the dot-product test. The derived exact adjoint operator turns out to differ from the conventional reverse-time-migration (RTM) operator, an implementation of wavefield extrapolation backward in time. Examples with synthetic data show that migration using the exact adjoint operator gives similar results for a conventional RTM operator and that least-squares RTM is quite successful in reducing most migration artifacts. The least-squares solution using the exact adjoint pair produces a model that fits the data better than one using a conventional RTM operator pair.


Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. S1-S13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linan Xu ◽  
Mauricio D. Sacchi

We have investigated the problem of designing the forward operator and its exact adjoint for two-way wave-equation least-squares migration. We study the problem in the time domain and pay particular attention to the individual operators that are required by the algorithm. We derive our algorithm using the language of linear algebra and establish a simple path to design forward and adjoint operators that pass the dot-product test. We also found that the exact adjoint operator is not equal to the classic reverse time migration algorithm. For instance, one must pay particular attention to boundary conditions to compute the exact adjoint that accurately passes the dot-product test. Forward and adjoint operators are adopted to solve the so-called least-squares reverse time migration problem via the method of conjugate gradients. We also examine a preconditioning strategy to invert extended images.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. S195-S206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mrinal Sinha ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

Imaging seismic data with an erroneous migration velocity can lead to defocused migration images. To mitigate this problem, we first choose a reference reflector whose topography is well-known from the well logs, for example. Reflections from this reference layer are correlated with the traces associated with reflections from deeper interfaces to get crosscorrelograms. Interferometric least-squares migration (ILSM) is then used to get the migration image that maximizes the crosscorrelation between the observed and the predicted crosscorrelograms. Deeper reference reflectors are used to image deeper parts of the subsurface with a greater accuracy. Results on synthetic and field data show that defocusing caused by velocity errors is largely suppressed by ILSM. We have also determined that ILSM can be used for 4D surveys in which environmental conditions and acquisition parameters are significantly different from one survey to the next. The limitations of ILSM are that it requires prior knowledge of a reference reflector in the subsurface and the velocity model below the reference reflector should be accurate.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. S567-S580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jizhong Yang ◽  
Yunyue Elita Li ◽  
Arthur Cheng ◽  
Yuzhu Liu ◽  
Liangguo Dong

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM), which aims to match the modeled data with the observed data in an iterative inversion procedure, is very sensitive to the accuracy of the migration velocity model. If the migration velocity model contains errors, the final migration image may be defocused and incoherent. We have used an LSRTM scheme based on the subsurface offset extended imaging condition, least-squares extended reverse time migration (LSERTM), to provide a better solution when large velocity errors exist. By introducing an extra dimension in the image space, LSERTM can fit the observed data even when significant errors are present in the migration velocity model. We further investigate this property and find that after stacking the extended migration images along the subsurface offset axis within the theoretical lateral resolution limit, we can obtain an image with better coherency and fewer migration artifacts. Using multiple numerical examples, we demonstrate that our method provides superior inversion results compared to conventional LSRTM when the bulk velocity errors are as large as 10%.


Geophysics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. VE13-VE23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Adler ◽  
Reda Baina ◽  
Mohamed Amine Soudani ◽  
Pierre Cardon ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Richard

Velocity-model estimation with seismic reflection tomography is a nonlinear inverse problem. We present a new method for solving the nonlinear tomographic inverse problem using 3D prestack-depth-migrated reflections as the input data, i.e., our method requires that prestack depth migration (PSDM) be performed before tomography. The method is applicable to any type of seismic data acquisition that permits seismic imaging with Kirchhoff PSDM. A fundamental concept of the method is that we dissociate the possibly incorrect initial migration velocity model from the tomographic velocity model. We take the initial migration velocity model and the residual moveout in the associated PSDM common-image gathers as the reference data. This allows us to consider the migrated depth of the initial PSDM as the invariant observation for the tomographic inverse problem. We can therefore formulate the inverse problem within the general framework of inverse theory as a nonlinear least-squares data fitting between observed and modeled migrated depth. The modeled migrated depth is calculated by ray tracing in the tomographic model, followed by a finite-offset map migration in the initial migration model. The inverse problem is solved iteratively with a Gauss-Newton algorithm. We applied the method to a North Sea data set to build an anisotropic layer velocity model.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. S165-S179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Hou ◽  
William W. Symes

Least-squares migration (LSM) iteratively achieves a mean-square best fit to seismic reflection data, provided that a kinematically accurate velocity model is available. The subsurface offset extension adds extra degrees of freedom to the model, thereby allowing LSM to fit the data even in the event of significant velocity error. This type of extension also implies additional computational expense per iteration from crosscorrelating source and receiver wavefields over the subsurface offset, and therefore places a premium on rapid convergence. We have accelerated the convergence of extended least-squares migration by combining the conjugate gradient algorithm with weighted norms in range (data) and domain (model) spaces that render the extended Born modeling operator approximately unitary. We have developed numerical examples that demonstrate that the proposed algorithm dramatically reduces the number of iterations required to achieve a given level of fit or gradient reduction compared with conjugate gradient iteration with Euclidean (unweighted) norms.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. S581-S598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin He ◽  
Yike Liu ◽  
Yanbao Zhang

In the past few decades, the least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) algorithm has been widely used to enhance images of complex subsurface structures by minimizing the data misfit function between the predicted and observed seismic data. However, this algorithm is sensitive to the accuracy of the migration velocity model, which, in the case of real data applications (generally obtained via tomography), always deviates from the true velocity model. Therefore, conventional LSRTM faces a cycle-skipping problem caused by a smeared image when using an inaccurate migration velocity model. To address the cycle-skipping problem, we have introduced an angle-domain LSRTM algorithm. Unlike the conventional LSRTM algorithm, our method updates the common source-propagation angle image gathers rather than the stacked image. An extended Born modeling operator in the common source-propagation angle domain is was derived, which reproduced kinematically accurate data in the presence of velocity errors. Our method can provide more focused images with high resolution as well as angle-domain common-image gathers (ADCIGs) with enhanced resolution and balanced amplitudes. However, because the velocity model is not updated, the provided image can have errors in depth. Synthetic and field examples are used to verify that our method can robustly improve the quality of the ADCIGs and the finally stacked images with affordable computational costs in the presence of velocity errors.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. S29-S40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jizhong Yang ◽  
Yuzhu Liu ◽  
Yunyue Elita Li ◽  
Arthur Cheng ◽  
Liangguo Dong ◽  
...  

Direct imaging of the steeply dipping structures is challenging for conventional reverse time migration (RTM), especially when there are no strong reflectors in the migration velocity model. To address this issue, we have enhanced the imaging of the steeply dipping structures by incorporating the prismatic waves. We formulate the imaging problem in a nonlinear least-squares optimization framework because the prismatic waves cannot be linearly mapped from the model perturbation. Primary and prismatic waves are jointly imaged to provide a single consistent image that includes structures illuminated by both types of waves, avoiding the complexities in scaling and/or interpreting primary and prismatic images separately. A conjugate gradient algorithm is used to iteratively solve the least-squares normal equation. This inversion procedure can become unstable if directly using the recorded data for migration because it is hindered by the crosstalk caused by imaging primary waves with the prismatic imaging operator. Therefore, we isolate the prismatic waves from the recorded data and image them with the prismatic imaging operator. Our scheme only requires a kinematically accurate and smooth migration velocity model, without the need to explicitly embed the strong reflectors in the migration velocity model. Realistic 2D numerical examples demonstrate that our method can resolve the steeply dipping structures much better than conventional least-squares RTM of primary waves.


Geophysics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. S153-S161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Luo ◽  
Dave Hale

Seismic migration requires an accurate background velocity model that correctly predicts the kinematics of wave propagation in the true subsurface. Least-squares migration, which seeks the inverse rather than the adjoint of a forward modeling operator, is especially sensitive to errors in this background model. This can result in traveltime differences between predicted and observed data that lead to incoherent and defocused migration images. We have developed an alternative misfit function for use in least-squares migration that measures amplitude differences between predicted and observed data, i.e., differences after correcting for nonzero traveltime shifts between predicted and observed data. We demonstrated on synthetic and field data that, when the background velocity model is incorrect, the use of this misfit function results in better focused migration images. Results suggest that our method best enhances image focusing when differences between predicted and observed data can be explained by traveltime shifts.


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